Children Are My Priority

I received a really neat Christmas gift this year: a fabric keychain embroidered with the words "Children Are My Priority". I wear it everyday. It has really made me think about how, as a teacher, I need to make every child my priority, including my own 2 children. As a mom, I sometimes wonder, "How can I successfully balance classroom life and home life?" It is not easy, but I must continue to strive for balance.

Regardless of the type of family we have, all elementary school teachers serve as "substitute" parents during the school day when someone else's child is in our care. We wipe noses, tie shoes and open milk cartons. We peel bananas, wipe tears, and put a band-aid where there sometimes is no scrape. We check temperatures and send students to the office when they are ill.

Yesterday, one of my A students in Grade 6, came running up to me, sobbing. He is not prone to doing that. He said he felt quite ill from a migraine and had to use the office phone to call home. I sent him quickly, without doubting his story. He left and his mother later told me that he threw up. I felt true compassion for him and wished his mother well. I was glad that I was able to care for him quickly and in turn, to get him to the school office and eventually to his home with his mom, where he belonged.

I was really surprised that a 6th grade boy was crying. I don't know why I thought it unusual...it's okay for boys to cry, right? Older boys, too? I just thought that as kids get older they cease to become kids somewhere along the line, on their way into adulthood. I was wrong: at that moment he was still very much a child who needed his mother's care.

Thinking of this young child made me remember my daughter's recent fever. She had to be rushed home to be with her father and me. She has since recovered, but I found myself wishing that I had as much time with my own kids as I do with other people's children. I am looking forward to the day that my own children, once school age, will be with me here at school and I will be able to tend to them as well.

Sometimes I believe that I was put in my classroom not only to teach, but to care for children while their parents are away from them. I believe that all children can be my priority, at different times, as circumstances dictate.

I feel that all teachers have a calling to love all of their students equally and to treat them as they would treat their own child(ren): with the greatest care and love. As teachers (and/or parents) children MUST be our top priority: we need to first show them that we care. Then comes the teaching and of course, beyond that, the learning will follow.

Trauma Affects Children More Than We Know

"Any child old enough to laugh and experience pleasure can also experience grief and trauma. Children need not understand what is happening to be terrorized. Grief and trauma are what we experience, not what we know, understand or comprehend."

- Dr. William Steele

This is a great article that really makes you think about where our students are coming from and what baggage they bring to the classroom with them.

(Click on the above blog title to be taken directly TO this brief article.)

Sometimes teachers may perceive some children as behavior "issues" to be "dealt" with. We think some children are just morbid, sad, or even "odd" and we just don't know why.

What if we could be a fly on the wall in the homes of our students? What would we learn about each child's upbringing that would make us more compassionate towards them in the classroom?

It is so easy to lose our patience with the "difficult" child or to throw our hands up (figuratively speaking) and to say in frustration "I give up...I don't know what to do with that student!"

While we do see our students for a large part of each day, we are not with them each evening, on weekends, and on vacations or summer break.

Thankfully, most have a home life that we would consider good. Some have an adequate home life. However, sadly, there are others who have an unsuitable home life and who are sometimes largely unprotected from those who might bring them harm.

Our duty as teachers is so much more than teaching: To love, to serve, to protect. That sounds similar to an oath a police officer or other community servant might take. I think that we as teachers have the same obligation to our students: To love, to serve, and to protect all children.

If you do not know where to start, begin by becoming more informed about the signs of child abuse and also by being more aware of each student's emotional wellbeing. Watch for any actions or speech that would be quite out of place for that child. Then, take action to begin to bring protection to that child.

Keep your eyes open and talk with your students. Most child abuse prevention programs tell children to talk with a trusted adult, like a teacher. Be the kind of teacher that your students can trust! You might be the one and only person to help save a child in real danger!